Changed laws !

From November 1, using a mobile phone while driving a vehicle in New South Wales will be subjected to tougher new laws.  The only way to legally make or receive a call will depend on whether the phone is secured in an approved hands free holder.  The practice of the driver having both hands on the wheel but having an operating phone on the passenger seat - or on the drivers lap - will attract a big fine and loss of demerit points.  The only way a driver can legally use a phone not connected to a hands free system - is if the car is parked and the engine switched off.

The vast majority of people agree that using a phone while driving increases the risk of a crash - and yet that same vast majority continues to break the law.  On any day of the week, up to ten percent of other drivers we pass on the roads are using a mobile phone illegally.

The law makers have decided that - like RBT and it's effect on drink driving - the only way to get people to obey a safety law is to impose a " reign of terror ".   Even touching a mobile phone while driving will now be an offence and we can expect that the police will be under pressure to implement this law change without mercy.   There will certainly be a big jump in sales of hands free phone equipment in the days before the start of November.

Another new law change will come into effect on that same day, and this one will leave many motorists totally confused.   The law requires drivers entering a roundabout to signal not only their entrance intention - but also their intention to exit.

That will not be a problem with major roundabouts.  They are big enough to have a raised  centre and a garden  and the distance between entry and exit points allows a change of signalling with ease.   The problem is that town planners have installed roundabouts at many intersections that are so small that the centre is level with the road - because bus and truck traffic can not accommodate such a tight turn they can legally ignore the roundabout requirement.

Trying to implement this legal signalling routine in such a roundabout can only lead to confusion - and the new law contains an " escape clause " when it adds " where possible "    Unfortunately, whenever a law fails to determine the exact requirements of it's implementation, it opens an area of interpretation between the driver and an observing police officer.

This is not a minor matter.  Where this offence incurs a penalty, it involves a fine of $ 165 and the loss of two demerit points.   In some cases, this will be the difference between retaining and losing a driving license.  That should not depend on how an individual interprets the meaning of the law.

The problem could be easily resolved by a slight law change.   All it would take would be for this signalling requirement to be mandatory only in those roundabouts in which the centre is raised above road level !